Docklessness, aesthetic governance, and the urban ‘micromobility mess’

Agnieszka Leszczynski, Jonathan Cinnamon, Suzi Asa and Lindi Jahiu
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Agnieszka Leszczynski: Western University, Canada
Jonathan Cinnamon: University of British Columbia Okanagan, Canada
Suzi Asa: University of British Columbia Okanagan, Canada
Lindi Jahiu: Western University, Canada

Urban Studies, 2025, vol. 62, issue 12, 2508-2525

Abstract: Dockless micromobility sharing systems have wrought significant visual changes to urban streetscapes worldwide. These changes are often described in terms of the ‘mess’ of micromobility, characterised by dockless vehicles abandoned in roadways, sidewalks, and recreational paths, tossed into waterways, and graffitied, burned, and otherwise vandalised. In this paper, we argue that efforts to govern this dockless micromobility mess – which most frequently comes in the form of parking regulations – effectively impose and enforce normative visual order on the cityscape. Based on an analysis of primary image data and publicly available documents, we identify that efforts at governing docklessness also have the effect of governing the aesthetics of urban space in three ways: through (1) visual-material interventions (e.g. parking corrals and mats, app interfaces); (2) linked strategies of visual verification (digital image capture and assessment) and computer vision (the use of AI and machine learning); and (3) visual erasure (e.g. impounds and bikeshare graveyards). We discuss the implications of the aesthetic effects of micromobility governance for docklessness itself and the utilisation of dockless micromobilities and potential impacts on transportation equity and sustainability, and most significantly, for the right to the city.

Keywords: aesthetics; dockless micromobility; governance; visual; world-class city; 美学; æ— æ¡©å¾®åž‹äº¤é€š; æ²»ç †; 视觉; 世界级城市 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2025
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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:sae:urbstu:v:62:y:2025:i:12:p:2508-2525

DOI: 10.1177/00420980251316773

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